16 Moving Tips you Haven’t Heard

You hired professional movers and your move-in date is set. You’ve exhausted the gamut of advice from friends and strangers on what to do: made a moving checklist, stuffed your wine glasses with socks and newspaper, and saved a nearby pizzeria’s number to your phone. What’s next?

Moving is a lot of work, even with the help of professional movers. It’s an exciting start to a new chapter of your life, but comes with a lot of uncertainties – especially if you’re moving cross country. Most moving tips and hacks focus on packing, but what about the before and after? Here’s a list of 16 uncommon tips to make preparing, packing, moving, and settling in as smooth as possible.

Survival Kit Backpacks

The first few days of a move can be tough for kids and adults alike. You probably already have a box of snacks and bottled water ready for moving day. That’s a great start – but take it all out and start over. Make individualized survival kits for each person using backpacks instead.

Backpacks are great for survival kits because they have plenty of pockets for organization. They are easy to carry around, and can be customized to fit the particular needs and desires of each individual family member. Whether this means different dietary concerns, emergency supplies, or beverage preferences, this small measure goes a long way for comfort.

Consider including the following items:

High protein snacks to keep your body going all day
Plenty of bottled water or a reusable water bottle
An electrolyte beverage of choice, like coconut water (or Pedialyte for kids)
Travel-size toothbrush, toothpaste, and deodorant
Phone charger
Two outfits to change into

Don’t try to pack enough snacks to substitute for meals – consider ordering takeout or picking up some frozen pizza to make mealtime easy until your kitchen is in order.

Take advantage of an empty house

If you are able to, make a trip to your new home the day before the move to clean and do some general move-in maintenance. It’s much easier to clean an empty home, so take the opportunity to scrub the counters, clean the shower, and wipe down windows. Since you’re bringing cleaning supplies anyway, grab a box for your bathroom – get the shower curtain up, situate your toilet paper, and have medicine and first-aid supplies organized.

Take videos and photos of property damage

Are you renting a new home or apartment, or preparing to leave your current rental? This is a perfect opportunity to obtain evidence of the physical state of the property while it’s empty. Record a video walkthrough of the interior and exterior, and take detail photos of any damage or excessive wear, both inside and outside. Save these to help you easily settle any disputes over your security deposit.

Anticipate possible problems

Take some time to anticipate difficulties and hazards. Some common things to watch out for:

Tight corners
Narrow entryways
Low ceilings
Cramped stairways
Irregular steps on stairs
Mossy porches that may be slippery in the rain
Interior or exterior doors that need to be taken off or propped open

If you have particularly large or awkwardly shaped furniture, you could save a lot of frustration by measuring before deciding to take it with you.

Get free moving boxes

You may not have to spend a single penny on boxes for packing. General stores and most small- to mid-sized chains discard more cardboard boxes every week than you can imagine. Most stores are happy to give you access to them, so don’t be afraid to ask!

Organize and label boxes strategically

Using colored tape to color-code boxes by room is a popular method of organizing belongings during a move. Go a step further and throw patterned tape into the mix. Use patterned tape to identify which rooms boxes belong to, and use colored tape to signify which boxes are fragile and which boxes need to be opened first.

Red tape is ideal for fragile boxes. It’s very easy to see, and we associate the color red with fragility very quickly. This will help your professional movers easily see which boxes need to be handled with care, and will prevent setbacks from unpacking mishaps. Green tape is great to signify priority, and will help speed up the unpacking process when you’re ready to get each room situated. Even if you don’t have a box that needs to be opened first for a particular room, putting green tape on one will help keep up your unpacking momentum by giving you a clear objective.

With boxes organized by room, priority, and fragility, you can keep labels simple. Labeling is most helpful for boxes that contain belongings that need to be organized or placed in and on furniture, such as clothing or silverware. If you have a small room with only a few boxes, labeling will likely waste more time than it saves.

Unpacking Box

Enlisting local movers takes a lot of work off your hands, especially if furniture assembly was included in your moving quote. There’s still work to be done, though! Cut down on time wasted looking through your boxes for important tools and supplies by keeping everything you need to unpack and assemble furniture in one box. Keep the box in your vehicle during the move so you know right where it is. Don’t forget these items:

Box cutter or pocket knife
Screwdrivers
Hammer
Screws and nails
Drill – remember to charge it!

As soon as you arrive, find a spot in a low-traffic room that won’t get cluttered. Put important things here, like your unpacking box, survival kit backpacks, and keys.

Keep special hardware with its furniture

Furniture and toys that need to be assembled occasionally come with strange tools or hardware. Oddly shaped screws and hex keys are the most notable offenders. Losing this hardware means you need to take a trip to the store before you can finish getting settled into your new home.

Don’t keep your special tools and hardware in your unpacking box. They are likely to get mixed up, and won’t be anywhere near most of the furniture in question. To make things easier for you – or your professional movers – put each set in a small snack bag. Secure the bag to its respective piece of furniture or object. If you’re worried about tape damaging your furniture, tie the bag to it with string or twine instead